1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid defoaming agent for food which is to be added in order to suppress foam generated during the process of producing bean curd and soybean milk, the process of producing processed milk products, the process of producing a processed tea product, and other processes of producing various foods. The present invention relates to a useful method for using a liquid defoaming agent for food.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the process of producing or processing various foods, there are contained those generating foam, and the foam generation causes distinct deterioration of productivity and quality of products.
In the general process of producing bean curd having traditionally been carried out, for example, soy bean is immersed in water and finely milled into "go", which is then heated in an iron pot to remove bean-curd refuse. The foaming during the heating or the foaming of the soybean milk in the bean-curd refuse removed from the heated "go", induces various disadvantages e.g. boiling-liquid overflow from the iron pot.
In order to suppress such foaming, therefore, various types of defoaming agents have been developed.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 53137-87 discloses a defoaming agent for food comprising one type of low fatty acid diglyceride or a mixture of two types thereof. Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 83559/1985 discloses a defoaming agent for bean curd, with essential components thereof comprising polyrecinoleic acid esters, soybean phospholipid, salts such as calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, etc., and fats and oils from animals and vegetables. Furthermore, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 22914/1976 discloses a defoaming agent in which three components, i.e. oils from animals and vegetables, phospholipid, calcium carbonate compounds, are mixed.
In recent years, there has been developed and widely propagated a method comprising adding water into water-absorbing soybean for milling, filtering the milled soy bean at ambient temperature, separating soybean milk from bean-curd refuse to heat the soybean milk. Even in the method, foam is generated during the separation process or during the handling process after the separation, for example, during the transportation process through pipelines, causing a variety of disadvantages e.g. problems such as promotion of pump's wear and tear due to the intrusion of air bubble into pipes transporting soybean milk to an iron pot, and the overflow of bubble from a storage tank of soybean milk. Most of conventional defoaming agents have been developed for the principal subject to suppress foaming at the heating stage, and any foaming agent can exhibit such effect at a certain degree, as long as it may be soluble at high-temperature condition. However, in the modified process in which bean-curd refuse is separated at ambient temperature described hereinabove, conventional defoaming agents cannot sufficiently be dissolved, so that little defoaming effect may be expected therefrom. Thus, there has been desired a defoaming agent to exert excellent defoaming effect even under the condition at room temperature.
Such defoaming agent is required not only in the process of producing bean curd and soybean milk but also in terms of suppressing foaming during the various processes illustrated hereinbelow, and there has been desired a defoaming agent exhibiting excellent defoaming effect in various fields of food production;
(a) process of producing ice-mix powder employing cow's milk and sheep's milk, whole milk powder, skimmilk powder, modified milk powder, casein, etc; and process of producing the processed foods employing them, e.g. ice cream, ice milk, lactoice, ice candy, pudding, coffee whitener, yogurt drinks:
(b) process of processing coffee drinks, instant coffee and coffee powder; and process of producing the processed foods employing them:
(c) process of producing cacao beans, e.g. process of producing cocoa powder and cocoa drinks:
(d) process of producing green teas (middle-grade green tea, powdered tea), fermented teas (tea, uron tea, etc.): and process of producing processed foods employing their powder and extracted liquid.
(e) process of compounding binding agents (filling agents) during the production of ham and sausage:
(f) process of preparing bean paste using adzuki beans:
(g) process of producing boiled beans using soybean, kidney bean, horse bean, etc.:
(h) other processes of producing various foods (process of producing foodstuffs employing potatoes, process of producing Worcester sauce, process of producing jellies, etc.).